By Lucy Marino, Executive Director, Marketing and Creative, Robert Half
Today, gen AI chatbots are just one small piece of a much larger AI toolkit in marketing. Robert Half research shows that 97% of marketing and creative teams are using or implementing AI-powered software, ranging from image and video generators to agentic systems that can run multi-step campaigns with human oversight. And momentum is growing, with 77% of current users planning to boost their AI spending.
For leaders figuring out how to use AI in marketing to improve workflows and campaign performance, the harder questions are now which tools to invest in and what skills and support your team needs to use them well. What steps can you take to ensure your organization stays competitive in developing talent as AI technology progresses?
Explore the latest insights
To learn how leading organizations are approaching this shift and what it means for your workforce, explore our Navigating the AI era insights.
Preparing your marketing and creative teams for the expanding use of AI
How marketing and creative teams are using AI today
The AI use cases for marketing and creative teams go beyond what many people may realize. The most common include:
Content creation and copywriting (46%)Social media management (44%)Campaign analytics and reporting (44%)Predictive analytics for customer behavior (43%)Customer segmentation and targeting (40%)SEO strategy and implementation (38%)Creative asset management (37%)
No single application dominates. Marketing and creative teams are using AI across the full workflow, from initial research through production and performance measurement. In 2026, the AI toolkit could include:
Agentic AI inside your CRM—Platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot now offer autonomous agents that act on data, with humans reviewing outputs and monitoring performance.AI-powered design at scale—Figma’s AI can now design directly on the canvas, guided by your team’s brand rules and past decisions. Canva’s Magic Studio can generate complete designs from text prompts and automatically resize them for 100+ formats. For teams producing a steady stream of social posts and ad variants, the time from brief to finished design has shrunk from days to hours.Coding tools that produce visual work—Tools like Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex can create internal mockups and first-draft presentations in minutes. They won’t deliver a polished, on-brand deck from a single prompt, but they can speed up rough drafts and internal reviews.
Building AI skills across your team
Where does your team stand? Robert Half research shows only 1 in 3 marketing and creative professionals feel very confident using AI tools, and 58% say they are actively working to build their AI skills in 2026.
When asked what helps most with building AI skills, marketing and creative professionals pointed to 2 forms of support from their leaders: clear guidance on appropriate AI use and dedicated time during work hours to learn and experiment. Here’s how to set your team up for success:
Publish internal AI use guidelines for your team that align with your company’s policies. Professionals want clarity on what’s acceptable. A short, plain-language document covering which tools are approved and how to handle data goes a long way. It takes the guesswork out and gives people confidence to experiment.Block out tool-specific training time. Inviting your team to “explore AI” rarely leads anywhere. Set aside regular hours for them to learn the specific platforms you’ve adopted. Encourage people to experiment without pressure to show immediate results.Coach your team on where AI adds value, how to guide it effectively and when to consider a draft complete. That means verifying facts, checking tone against your brand and making sure the work meets your standards before moving on.Set clear expectations about how the workload will change. If you celebrate productivity gains and nothing else, people may assume you’re simply expecting more output. Be upfront about how roles will evolve and what good oversight of AI-generated work looks like. One thing to watch with agentic AI in particular: workflows can now be triggered from a phone at any hour. Encourage your team to set boundaries around when and how they engage with these tools, or you risk burning people out.
Recruiting marketing professionals with AI skills
As companies expand their use of AI in marketing, the talent they need will continue to evolve. That doesn’t mean roles will disappear— it means responsibilities will shift. Some existing roles that will become increasingly important include:
Project managers who can smoothly integrate AI tools into day-to-day work, striking the right balance between automation and human ingenuity. These PMs should be comfortable supporting teams with AI-powered project management tools and have a knack for identifying where AI can speed things up without cutting corners on quality.Graphic designers who blend traditional design skills with AI capabilities. Look for individuals who can use AI to quickly generate initial concepts, manipulate images and create design variations while maintaining a keen eye for aesthetics and brand consistency.Copywriters who can harness AI writing tools to ramp up their productivity, generate ideas and optimize content for search while keeping your brand’s unique voice intact.Content strategists who can use AI tools for research, topic generation and trend analysis while still relying on their expertise to craft compelling, audience-focused strategies.Digital marketing specialists who are comfortable with AI-powered analytics tools and can use AI to optimize campaigns across various channels. They should be able to interpret AI-generated insights and turn them into actionable marketing strategies.
When recruiting for these roles, craft clear, specific job descriptions. Instead of using vague terms like “AI skills,” list the specific technologies, platforms or applications you use or plan to use. Many professionals are eager to work with the latest technology, so your broadening approach to AI may be a strong selling point.
Hiring for these and others AI-skilled roles can be challenging, as these specialized professionals remain in high demand and short supply. Almost 7 in 10 (69%) marketing and creative leaders say the rise of AI has made them more likely to seek support from a recruiting firm, mainly for help finding candidates with AI skills and identifying AI-related skills gaps. Experienced recruiters can help leaders quickly identify AI-savvy talent, reducing time-to-hire while ensuring candidates are pre-evaluated for relevant skills.
Learn more about AI’s impact on the recruiting process and how to strengthen your talent strategy.
Your next move
In a Robert Half survey, 63% of marketing and creative leaders described themselves as highly optimistic and proactive about integrating AI into their department’s processes. That confidence needs to be visible to your team.
As AI reshapes work, success will depend less on adoption and more on how confidently your team applies these tools to real business challenges. By investing in the right skills and creating an environment where teams can experiment and evolve, organizations can turn AI from a tool into a sustained competitive advantage.
Follow Lucy Marino on LinkedIn.
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